Saturday, May 02, 2015

Aulë's Children Or Durin's Folk

I have been reading the Younger Edda. I am not sure if I will finish it. Anyways, when I came to an account of the dwarves, I found I recognized many of the names.

"Then the gods set themselves in their high-seats and held counsel. They remembered how the dwarfs had quickened in the mould of the earth like maggots in flesh. The dwarfs had first been created and had quickened in Ymer’s flesh, and were then maggots; but now, by the decision of the gods, they got the understanding and likeness of men, but still had to dwell in the earth and in rocks. Modsogner was one dwarf and Durin another. So it is said in the Vala's Prophecy:

Then went all the gods,
The all-holy gods,
On their judgment seats,
And thereon took counsel
Who should the race
Of dwarfs create
From the bloody sea
And from Blain’s bones.
In the likeness of men
Made they many
Dwarfs in the earth,
As Durin said.

The above list includes all but one of the thirteen dwarves who travel with Bilbo Baggins in Tolkien's The Hobbit. These are Thorin, Fili (File), Kile (Kile), Oin, Gloin, Dwalin (Dvalin), Ori (Ore), Dori (Dore), Nori (Nore), Bifur, Bofur (Bafur), and Bombur (Bombor). (Presumably, Tolkien had a different opinion on the translation of the alphabet for the Eddas.) Balin, the remaining one of Tolkien's thirteen, is the name of a knight in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. Dain and Durin are two other dwarf names apparently taken from the Eddas. According to the Younger Edda, Gimle (Gimli?) is the name of a palace in the south of the world. Gandalf, Tolkien's greatest wizard, is also a name on the above list.